September 17th is the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. It's a great day to spend some time learning about this important document that affects all of us who live in the United States of America. If you click right here , you'll go to the National Archives page for...

A few months ago I realized it had been a long time since I'd read any science fiction or fantasy novels. When I started making a list of titles to try, a friend recommended Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson . Now I'm recommending it to you because this is a book that has everything: mystery, romance...

Opinions and concerns abound about this issue, sometimes to the point that the facts get obscured. Can I separate all the facts from the fiction? Nope, I can be duped and sucked in as easily as the next person. But I can tell you where to go to form your own opinions undiluted by anyone else with an...

Hello out there to everyone in EVPL blogland, I have a dilemma that I could use your help with. Every year I sit down to plan a workshop on useful government documents and websites (more websites than actual documents now-a-days) and every year I get overwhelmed with the glut of information I could offer…...

Why review a 38 year old book? When I spotted this book, I remembered the name Harry Caudill because of his book Night Comes to the Cumberland s . I read that book after reading a chapter about Harry Caudill in a book of essays by Wendell Berry called What Are People For? Now, I've been an admirer...

It's been said that Barack Obama ran a transformational campaign, and is a transformational political figure. Now, with the advent of www.change.gov , we have what looks like the beginning of a transformational Presidency. This is the official ".gov" website of the office of the President...

There are a couple of good websites that outline the Sen. McCain's and Sen. Obama's stands on the issues. First, of course, are their own websites: http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/ http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ Recommended third-party sites include: http://www.ontheissues.org...

As elections approach, decisions about how to vote are being made. And political campaigns and candidates have been known to bend the truth in their efforts to get the votes. The PBS blog, Media Shift, had a helpful article this week, Political Fact-Check Sites Proliferate, But Can They Break Through...

Red Bank Branch has two upcoming events concerning our food and where it comes from. On Wednesday September 24 at 6:30pm Marvin Kemper and Joe Schalansky of Seton Harvest will be speaking. Seton Harvest is a CSA, or community supported agriculture project. Next, on Wednesday October 15 at 6:30pm Suzan...

Loosely based on the lives of George and Laura Bush, this novel is causing a sensation in both political and literary circles. Thirty-three year old author Curtis Sittenfeld hit the bestseller lists with her first novel, " Prep ," in 2005, utilizing her Seven Sisters background in a fictional...

Visit Voting America, United States Politics 1840-2008 . A project from the University of Richmond, Voting America offers interactive maps, with data to the county level, of our Presidential elections. Along with this, the project offers expert video analysis of our voting trends and special periods...

So far over one hundred people have announced or filed for candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. Visit Project Vote Smart to learn about them and the front runners McCain and Obama. Project Vote Smart is a non-partisan organization endorsed by leading newspapers and journals, the United States...

Twenty new electronic books have been added to the EVPL catalog that are available through the Credo Reference database. Some of the titles include: Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics / edited by Rajend Mesthrie ; consulting editor, R.E. Asher Encyclopedia of Urban Legends / Jan Harold Brunvand...

Free copies of a new local newspaper have appeared in our libraries: "The City County Observer". The paper describes itseilf as "A Non-Partisan Publication Dedicated to the Reporting of Your Local Government at Work". This is the first issue, August, 2008, volume 1, issue 1; the paper...